Prime minister Sheikh Hasina said on Thursday that she would ask the police to follow the style of the United States to handle street protests, referring to the letter’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian protesters on different university campuses.
She came up with the remark while replying to a question at a press conference about the recent killing of two Bangladeshi youths in the US.
The Prime Minister’s Office organised the press conference to brief the press about the outcome of the prime minister’s recent visit to Thailand.
‘Seeing what America is doing with students and teachers, I remember the atrocities of BNP-Jamaat in 2001. But they [the USA] are advising us about human rights,’ she said.
Hasina added that the US government should look into human rights violations in their country.
‘They [the US] should focus on the violations of human rights and shooting deaths of ordinary people in their own country, as one should look to own house first,’ she said.
She said that several Bangladeshi nationals had recently died in various shooting and stabbing incidents in the US.
Two Bangladeshis were shot dead in the city of Buffalo, New York, in the latest incident.
‘We [the government] have already protested against the incident. Protests are being held even in America. The affiliated organisation of the ruling Awami League is very vocal there,’ she said.
‘It is not just expatriates Bangladeshis. America has turned into a land where people get killed continuously. A mother was holding a child who was gunned down by police,’ she said, adding that what was the crime of the child?
Criticising US policy on the issue of Palestine despite their discussion of human rights elsewhere, Hasina, also president of the ruling Awami League, said, ‘This is my question too. We have been asking this question at the international level as well. What is that two-faced policy for?’
She said that when people kill, then they are given money.
They get weapons to kill people, she said, adding that the same country is seen as outspoken about human rights.
Criticising local and international human rights groups, Hasina said that these human rights agencies are many big human rights advocates in Bangladesh too.
‘Why are they silent now?’ she questioned.
‘I call upon the world community, including the Asia-Pacific region, to work together to resolve the ongoing genocide in Palestine, the ongoing conflict in Myanmar, and the Rohingya issue,’ she said.
Responding to another question, she said that the left-leaning politicians of the country had turned 90 degrees.
‘My question to the extreme left is: who will they bring to power overthrowing me? Have they ever thought about it? And what is my offence?’ she said.
Referring to the anti-government movement here in Bangladesh, she said, ‘I said, they are agitating, let them do it. But if I want, I can stop the movement with the police in American style.’
‘Certainly, I think there’s an opportunity for us to take a little bit of a new path. If we tell our police to follow the American police to stop the movement, they can do that,’ she said.
She also said that on October 28, 2023, she told the police to remain patient.
‘Being patient, they [police] were beaten to death while opposition activists carried out attacks on the police hospital and burned police cars. So I think now our police can take measures to suppress the movement in the American style,’ she added.
Responding to a question about the upazila parishad elections, Sheikh Hasina said that she wants a free, fair, and neutral upazila election so that people can elect the representatives of their choice.
‘I want uninfluenced, free, fair, and neutral upazila elections. The winners of the election are welcome. They will be winners whom the people want. The Awami League has come to power as the people wanted,’ she said.
She came down heavily on some political parties that asked people to boycott voting.
She called upon the journalist community to take the pen against the vested quarters’ ill move to influence people not to exercise voting rights as voting rights are people’s constitutional and civic rights.
PM’s speech writer, M Nazrul Islam, moderated the press conference.
